Has served for over two hundred years. After Operation Bulldog concluded, the First Bear Regulars were sent to raid Luzerne by their commanders. They faced the 17th Recon Regiment, which contested the landing. The Regulars forced the Recon unit aside, and the mercenary forces responded by showering the Regulars with Arrow IV artillery missiles.[1]

In fact, Tau's performance in various Trials of Possession were responsible for the Bears taking Itabiana from the Nova Cats and Kiamba from the Combine, then recapturing Goito from the Hell's Horses before seizing Stanzach - again, from the Hell's Horses - and then Gunzburg from the Wolves.[2]

Having established landing zones, the First Bear Regulars - along with the Seventh Bear Regulars and Sixty-ninth PGC - swiftly pushed the defending forces from the Cebalrai Protectorate Militia and their supporting mercenaries off the continent of Lennori and continued to pursue them across Sarrina, a pursuit that culminated in a bloody three-day campaign to seize control of New Wade, the capital city of Cebalrai. New Wade was secured by the Ghost Bears on the 18th of August and the government re-established; concerns about rogue Blakist units and supporters led to the First remaining in place to both act as guards and recuperate from their losses.[7]

The Seventh Bear Regulars and the Sixty-ninth PGC continued to harry the retreating Cebalrai Protectorate Militia and their supporting mercenary forces, pursuing them back to Dragga, where the Blakists still controled the three main cities. The main Blakist strength was at Kamrin, a heavily industrial city, and the Ghost Bear forces were driving deep into the city when the Blakists acted out of desperation and detonated a chain of five neutron bombs that had been concealed under the city. The results were devastating for the Seventh Regulars and the Sixty-ninth PGC, who were collectively reduced to just a handful of survivors,[5][6][7] and the First were lucky to escape the same fate.[4]

With the Ghost Bears still in control of the bulk of Cebalrai the Tenth Provisional Garrison Cluster was deployed to the planet to secure Dragga, a campaign that took until at least the 23rd of August;[7] even with the Blakists annihilated,[8] the casualties inflicted on the Seventh Regulars and the Sixty-ninth PGC were such that Omicron Galaxy halted offensive operations temporarily to reassess the campaign and attempt to recover its strength.[7]

The Republic of the Sphere established a memorial to the Ghost Bears who died liberating Cebalrai; a huge sculpture of a Ghost Bear, carved from obsidian, was placed in the center of Kamrin, the location of the final conflict between the Ghost Bears and the Blakists.[8]

The initial attack was rebuffed, with the Clan forces having retreated by mid February; while the media reported that the SDS in the New Earth system had been destroyed or at least heavily damaged, it also reported that up to four Clan WarShips had been destroyed, and that the Clan forces had been forced to retreat due to the presence of not just the anticipated Protectorate Militia Divisions and Militia Division, but also at least one Shadow Division. There were also unsubstantiated rumours that the forces from the Ghost Bears, Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Wolf had arrived at different times, with the Ghost Bears arriving early, and then failed to work together.[12] One of the destroyed WarShips was subsequently identified as the Aegis-class heavy cruiser CJF Frost Falcon;[13] another was the Volga-class transport CGB Ursine Boatman,[14] and the third the Vincent-class corvette CSR Huninn, a vessel from the Clan Snow RavenIce Storm Naval Star assigned to support the Ghost Bear Dominion during the Jihad.[15] The Ghost Bear ground forces were lucky to escape from the trap, and the damage taken made New Earth the last campaign of the Jihad for both galaxies.[16]

With the Ghost Bear operations against the Word of Blake coming to a close, the First and Second Bear Regulars were returned to Tau Galaxy, which made Tau one of the largest galaxies in the Ghost Bear touman in 3079.[16]

During the years immediately after the Jihad Tau acted as a supporting force to Rho and Omega Galaxies. A lack of BattleMechs had led to Tau containing vehicle-based transport Novas as well as vehicle Binaries manned by native Rasalhagians; while the proportion of Inner Sphere technology in use with Tau dropped after the initial rebuilding efforts, by 3085 nearly a quarter of Tau's equipment was still of Inner Sphere origin.[17]

With the collapse of the HPG network after Gray Monday Tau Galaxy was posted to the Periphery border of the Rasalhague Dominion; given Tau's status as a secondline galaxy only slightly below frontline status, this seemed an odd move to observers outside the Dominion. Tau's posting prompted speculation that the Dominion was preparing for a potential attack from the Clan Homeworlds and that the Dominion perhaps believed the various Homeworld Clans were responsible for the events of Gray Monday.[18]

- At this point in time the First were stationed on Stanzach and were at fifty-seven percent of full strength. Three quarters of the Cluster were equipped with Clan technology, with the remainder using Star League era equipment. Almost half of the First were equipped with OmniMechs or equivalent technology.[19]

- At this point the First were stationed on Nox and had rebuilt to two-thirds of full strength. Slightly more than a third of the Cluster were equipped with OmniMechs or equivalent technology by this point.[20]

In common with every other unit in the Clan Ghost Bear touman at this point in time, the units within the First Bear Regulars receive a +1 modifier to any dice roll on Random Weight-Class tables to determine Star or Binary/Trinary type.[22]

When fighting in the Ghost Bear Occupation Zone and acting as defender, the First Bear Regulars begin the battle with full ammunition loads regardless of any scenario rules that might limit access to such ammunition.[23]

When the First Bear Regulars are fighting in the Ghost Bear Occupation Zone and acting as defender the opposing player may not set up any hidden units.[23]